365+1 - Generosity

Kit: Gingerscraps - scrap your life

This was a challenging prompt,  I thought about showing the pile of stuff I have ready for the charity shop or the envelope we are sending off an old mobile phone in but somehow that seemed rather unexciting.  So when I saw our friends arrive to have another go at cutting up the beech tree which had come down with the strong winds, I thought it would make an ideal subject.  We don't have any wood burning stoves so have given them the wood.  In return they are cutting it up and getting it off our field. So Generosity on both sides and mutual benefit.

Interesting how many men it takes to watch a young lad chop up a log, isn't it?

Blair Castle Part 1

On Wednesday last week we visited Blair Castle.  We started with a walk on the Estate which took us past the farm and through the forest.  The views were nothing spectacular, so I'll not share them with you.

Three times each day, a piper plays outside Blair Castle, always good for  a photo opporunity!

There was also a peacock wandering around also posing for photographs. However, no photographs could be taken inside the castle.

This huge tree is in 'Diana's Grove' 

"Diana’s Grove, a tranquil wooded area adjacent to the castle affords a unique opportunity to enjoy some of the county’s finest and tallest trees in a space of just two acres. It is also the home of a Grand Fir, the UK’s second tallest tree at 62.70 metres."

We passed the ruins of St Bride’s Kirk " which has its ancient origins in Celtic times. After the nearby Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, the Kirk became the resting place for the remains of Viscount Dundee, (John Graham of Claverhouse, known as Bonnie Dundee)."

"Hercules Garden is a stunning 9 acre walled garden recently restored to its original Georgian design. Named after the life-sized statue of Hercules which overlooks the garden, it incorporates landscaped ponds, a folly, a Chinese bridge and an impressive orchard of more than 100 fruit trees. The glory of this garden in summer are the herbaceous borders which run along the 275m south-facing wall."

The Hercules Garden was full of ducks and a pair of swans with a signet.  They were all very tame so it was possible to get up close for photographs.

More photos coming soon.

Found some photos I forgot to blog

I took these just after New Year, when I went looking for the wild ducks in our flooded bit of swamp. The ducks flew off as soon as I went near, so I had to make do with some rather wet looking pictures. The one above is my tree and this one will be going in the digi journal I am going to make of the tree over the year.

This is the back of the willow patch that grows along with the reeds in the field next to the house known as 'the side o' the hoose' field - we are nothing if not literal!

This is the side we see from the house, another lovely tree in the background, it's a Scots Pine and we have had buzzards nesting in it in the past. As well as the ducks we have a pair of herons which frequent this flooded bit of land and one year there was a baby. It's like living in your own wildlife sanctuary.